Game



July 14, 1959 H. E. CURTIS GAME 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 7, 1953 E L U P T L U M FIG.

FIG.

FIG-5 FIG. 3"

Fl G. I INVENTOR.

HAROLD E. CURTIS M fi/ FIG. IO

July 14, 1959 H. E. CURTIS GAME Filed July '7, 1955 2 Sheet-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

HAROLD E. CURTIS BY 4; 4; M4

GAME

Harold E. Curtis, Lawrence Park Township, Erie County, Pa.

Application July 7, 1953, Serial No. 366,573

1 Claim. (Cl. 273-148) This invention relates to scorekeeping devices and more particularly to devices for keeping records and for drawing numbers in baseball, boxing, and other pools where the various contestants attempt to anticipate the results of a contest.

In factories, oifices, and other places where groups of people are associated together, it is common practice preceding baseball games, prize fights, and other contests for the various members of the group to guess during which round the boxing match will be decided or what the score will be in the baseball game. For example, numbers will be written on various slips of paper having the anticipated score or inning and the team winning this score on the pieces of paper and each person in the group will draw a slip of paper and the number on his slip of paper will be compared with the actual results of the contest and the person having the nearest score to the score which actually decides the contest will win this game. Considerable inconvenience is experienced in making up these slips of paper and often the numbers are illegible and often the papers are turned so the person drawing can actually see the number on the paper he is drawing.

It is, accordingly, an object of this invention to overcome the above difiiculties and more particularly to provide a device which can be used for keeping a record of the numbers or scores drawn by the various persons.

Another object of the invention is to provide a de vice which can be used by a manufacturing company to advertise its wares by making various parts of the device in the shape of the particular ware or by printing the advertising message on the device itself.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel type of numbered device for use in drawing lots or numbers.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device which will be economical to manufacture, attractive in appearance, and pleasing to the user.

With the above and other objects in view, the present invention consists of the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and more particularly pointed out in the appended claim, it being understood that changes may be made in the form, size, proportions, and minor details of construction without departing from the Fig. 6 is a bottom view of an embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is a bottom view of another embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged view of a numeral carrying device constituting another embodiment of the device shown in Figs. 3 and 5;

Fig. 9 is another embodiment of a numeral carrying device;

Fig. 10 is another embodiment of a numeral carrying device; and

Fig. 11 shows an electrical circuit for the light bulb in my invention.

Now with more specific reference to the drawings, in Fig. l, I show a body member 10 having a lid 11 and a bottom container member 12 having partitions 13 and spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the in- 14 therein. The lid 11 is connected to the body member 10 by means of the hinges 15 which may be used to hingedly connect the cover to the container. A latch member 16 comprises a depending portion 17 with suitable latching means for engaging coacting means in the front 19 of the device. The depending member 17 extends into the slot 18 and frictionally engages the slot 18.

The container is preferably made of plastic or other suitable material and one surface 20 thereof may be suitably roughened by properly treating the plastic mold or by rubbing the surface with some abrasive material such as steel wool or fine sandpaper. The roughing of the surface is done so that an instrument such as a lead pencil can be used to write on the surface and the markingscan be readily wiped off by means of an ordinary eraser or other suitable means. The surface portion 20 is suitably ruled and marked for the particular use of which the device is to be put. For example, if it is to be used for recording the various scores made or drawn by different individuals participating in the game, it may be ruled olf as shown having spaces 21 and 22 for writing the names of the various persons engaging in the game and spaces 23 and 24 for recording the score made or drawn by the person.

The space 25 at the top can be used to record advertising material. For example, if the device is to be distributed by a razor blade company, some statement concerning the advertisers product such as razor blades could be printed in the upper part or attached thereto by means of a decal or similar device. The two spaces 21 and 22 could be headed A and N as shown to indicate American League and National League.

In Figs. 3 and 4, I show a numeral carrying device or wafer for use in the container. The device is made up of two pieces 30 and 31 of plastic or other suitable material connected together by means of cement or similar suitable material. The material is preferably transparent and numerals such as 32 and 33 are recorded on the inside of one of the pieces 30 or 31. Therefore, when the device is held up to a strong light, the numeral N 1, in this case, or other suitable number afiixed therein can be observed.

The device 34 shown in Fig. 5 is made of two pieces of material cemented together similar to the wafer shown in Figs. 3 and 4 and having suitable numbers or letters recorded inside and indicates an example of a contemplated variation of the shape of the device shown in. Fig. 3.

In Fig. 6, I show a rear View of the device shown in Fig. 1 and indicate how the directions for using the device can be printed on the space 35 or advertising mate rial in the form of decals could be printed thereon.

In Fig. 7, I show how the device could be made in the shape of a bottle such as a bottle of characteristic shape used by a beverage company to impress on the mind of the user the product of the advertiser. The member 36 in-.-

dicates such a bottle. In this case, directions for use of the game would be written in the space 37 on the bottle and an advertising message would be displayed on the opposite side. The container would be provided with a suitable lid and partitions similar to those shown in Fig. 2.

In Fig. 8, I disclose a device or wafer 50 similar to the device shown in Fig. 3 made of two separate pieces of transparent plastic and having the characters 51 and 52. printed on one inner surface. The wafer is made in the shape of a razor blade illustrating how the wafer can be made of characteristic shape to call attention to the goods of a particular advertiser.

In Fig. 9, I show another embodiment of wafer 60 shown in the shape of the characteristic beverage bottle to further illustrate the contemplated scope of shapes of the wafers. The general construction would preferably be of two sheets cemented together similar to the wafer shown in Fig. 3 to carry the characters 61 and 62.

In Fig. 10, I show another embodiment of the invention wherein a wafer 140 is made up of two halves 141 and 142 cemented together along peripheral edges 143. The desired numerals 144 can be inscribed on the inner surface of either the member 141 or 142. The half 1141 is made convex to allow room inside for a raised numeral 144. It has been found in some cases to be more economical to make raised characters on the wafers because in order to mold such characters, it is merely necessary to form a suitable depression in the material die whereas, to make the characters in the form of indentations in the plastic wafers, it is necessary to remove all the material from the die around the characters thereon, resulting in a much more expensive operation in making the die.

To illustrate an example of the use of the device, when the device shown in Fig. l is being used in connection with a major league ball game, the devices shown in Figs. 3, 4, 5, 8, or 9 will be disposed in one of the spaces 49 or 41. The various members of the group participating in the game will each draw one of the wafers, hold it up to a light or over the bulb 43, and observe what number and letter are recorded therein. For example, if team A is playing team N and participator Smith draws N 1, Smiths name will be recorded in the space 21 under 1 and 1 Will be recorded under Score. Then if participator Jones draws the numeral A 9, Jones name will be recorded under A and 9 Will be recorded under the column headed Score. Each person who draws a device will have his name recorded under the team number that he draws and the number on the device will be recorded under Score. Then after the actual game is played, the top of the container can be observed to find the name of the person who drew an inning score of the team nearest to the score actually made. The person who drew a device having a numeral nearest to the inning score and having the initial of the team making that score will win the game.

I indicate at the top of the container a light bulb 43 which can be powered by a small battery 44. The devices may be held over the light bulb 43 to observe the numbers when a suitable strong light is not available for use to discover the number in the device drawn. A suitable push button 47 is provided in the light circuit to turn on the light bulb 43.

Figs. 5, 8 and 9 indicate howthe shape of the devices can be varied to suit the various purposes of different advertisers to call attention-to the products and impress on the minds of the users of the device the characteristic shape of the advertisers product.

In the foregoing specification, I have set forth the invention in its'prefer-red practical forms but I am aware that the structure shown is capable of modification within a range of equivalents without departing from the invention which is to be understood is broadly novel as is commensurate with the appended claim.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are definedas follows:

A game comprising, in combination, a body mem her and a plurality of indicia carrying devices comprising a container having sides, a bottom, and a lid, said container being relatively shallow and having a transversely extending partition separating said container into a first and a second compartment, said container having an enclosed space at one end thereof defined by said lid, said sides, and said bottom, a battery enclosed in said enclosed space, a light supported on said container, said light having means thereon to electrically attach it to said battery, and wafers in said first compartment, said wafers being made of two pieces of thin transparent material attached together, the inside surface of one said thin piece having an indicia member inscribed thereon, and a plurality of ruled columns inscribed on the outside of the lid of said container, spaced horizontal lines on said outside of the lid intersecting said ruled columns to have the names of players inscribed thereon, said wafers being adapted to be removed from said first compartment, held up to said light source to be identified, and then deposited in said second compartment, some of the indicia on each of said Wafers selected being inscribed in said ruled columns opposite the name of a player by an operator.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED uTATES PATENTS 179,362 Slade June 27, 1876 283,741 Appleberg Aug. 28, 1883 478,304 Alvord July 5, 1892 529,228 Wyler Nov. 13, 1894 1,475,652 Polizzi Nov. 27, 1923 2,410,845 Snell Nov. 12, 1946 2,657,059 Selig Oct. 27, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 18,252 Great Britain 1909 336,836 Great Britain Oct. 23, 1930 

